Foods That Increase Vitamin-D-But Do Not Miss This One

Current estimate reveals 94% of the world population needs more Vit-D. Research has established, every cell of our body has a Vitamin-D receptor. Vitamin-D deficiency is related to >200 diseases as of today and it is still an emerging field.

I just don’t want to ignore this finding which came as Google alert for Vitamin-D today as I write this post: “Early screening and management of severe vitamin D deficiency is beneficial for protecting renal function in a relatively healthy population,” the authors write in study published in the December issue of The American Journal of Clinical Nutrition.

How do we address this scary deficiency day in and day out to make sure our body is working with optimal Vitamin-D level? One of the recourses to meet and increase the D-nutrient in our body is food that we eat every day. But unfortunately, the current supermarket food isles are not carrying too many of them.

The reason being, Vitamin-D3 is exclusively formed by the mammalian skin exposure to sunlight. So the food you see is mostly from animal sources. Fungi produce Vitamin-D2 from sunlight exposure. Human has intelligently fortified several foods taking advantage of the fat solubility of Vitamin-D, thus you can secure Vit-D2 fortified milk and dairy products. Vitamin D2 was added to orange juice and found to be easily absorbed.

But for vegans and vegetarians, there are few foods available where mushrooms standout. Mushrooms contain Vitamin-D2.

Let’s be aware of the fact Vitamin-D (D2 and D3) that we get from sun exposure and acquire from food is not the form that your doctor measures to determine your nutrient status.

What we eat is not what gives our measure of the Vitamin-D level.

If we stuff ourselves with Vitamin-D3 rich food, it does not lift the level that the laboratory measures. Vitamin-D increase in our body is measured not by Vit-D (skin made from sunlight) but from its 1st metabolite, i.e. 25-hydroxy-Vitamin-D. It could be 25-hydroxy-Vitamin-D3, and 25-hydroxy-Vitamin-D2 depending on what you ate.

Vitamin-D just does not convert by itself to 25-hydroxy Vit-D metabolite then to the 1,25-hydroxy Vit-D. It needs the magnesium, zinc, and vitamin-K.

This blog will cover sources that will help increase the Vitamin-D.

Vit-D from all sources

Vitamin-D3 from Animal Sources

Vitamin-D2 from Plant Sources

Magnesium – The link between lazy (D2 and D3) and active Vitamin-D (25-hydroxy-Vitamin-D2 and D3)

Two easy and healthy recipes which help vitamin-D improvement

Vitamin-D Foods-A Comprehensive List

Source

Vitamin-D Class

IU (600 RDI)

Amount

Animal

D3

Meckerel

D3

360

100 g

Herring

D3

1625

100 g

Hallibut

D3

600

100 g

Salmon-Wild caught

D3

988

100 g

Sardine

D3

453

60 g

Rainbow trout

D3

623.3

100g

Beef Liver

D3

12

3 1/2 Ounce

Oyster

D3

320

100g

Cod

D3

104

3.5 Ounce

Egg Yolks

D3

40

1- egg

Cod Liver Oil

D3

450

1-teaspoon

Plant and Fortified

D2

Mushroom-sunlight treated

D2

2300

100 g

Orange juice

142

237 mL-1cup

Dry Cereal,

D2

40-50

3/4th of a cup

Milk

D2

98

237 mL-1 cup

Yogurt

D2

120

6 Oz- brand dependent

Cheese

D2

7

28 g

Vitamin-D3 from Animal Sources

Fatty fish:

Most of the population around the world has great access to fish. Many of the fishes, particularly the fatty ones are a rich source of Vitamin-D. While all the fish categories have not yet been calculated for Vitamin-D content, there are many those are evaluated by USDA they have a Vitamin-D number attached to them.

The small fish like sardine and herring are widely available and cost-effective. They can really address Vitamin-D need for a very large population. I have attached a recipe to cook these kinds of small fishes while preserving D-nutrient.

Beef liver is a slice of organ meat comes with Vitamin-K that helps Calcium metabolism along with Vitamin-D.

Just getting Vitamin-D rich food is not enough for upping your Vitamin-D. Cooking them to preserve the nutrients in it is another aspect. For example, fried salmon loses 50% of the Vit-D3. You can reserve most of the Vitamin-D nutrient by baking them.

The short answer to the question is both works and improve your D-nutrient level. Ergocalciferol (Vitamin-D2) and Cholecalciferol (Vitamin-D3) belong to the same structural class but have a slightly different structure. Vitamin-D2 is not as effective as Vitamin-D3 that we produce from sunlight interacting with skin but works to a lesser degree (~75%). As a testimonial, Vitamin-D2 has helped upped my own severe Vitamin-D deficiency.

How does the lazy D2/D3 work? What mobilizes them? It is mostly the mineral Magnesium.

Magnesium – The link Between Lazy and Active Vitamin-D

Magnesium helps activate Vitamin-D for hydroxylation in the liver to form 25-hydroxy-Vitamin-D. This is the nutrient that our physicians look at to determine the D-nutrition status.

Boron supports the functions of Calcium, Magnesium and Vitamin-D and healthy bones.

Per Vitamin D Council, “In order to receive the most health benefit from increased levels of vitamin D, the proper cofactors must be present in the body. Vitamin D has many cofactors, but the ones listed here are the most important, with magnesium topping the list: Magnesium, Vitamin K, Vitamin A, Zinc and Boron.”

The following table lists several foods (comprehensive list) for different micronutrients for maximizing the performance of Vitamin-D.

Food Source of micronutrients for Vitamin-D3 Activation

Magnesium

Boron

Zinc

Vitamin-K1

RDI 350 mg

RDI <20 mg

RDI 15 mg

RDI 80 microgram

Avocado

Almonds

Nuts

Brocolli

Chickpeas

Avocado

Apple

Asparagus

Figs

Brazil nut

Chickpeas

Blueberries

Kale

Broccoli

Carrot

Kale

Legumes

Brusselsprout

Dates

Sauerkrout

Mackerel

Celery

Dried Apricot

Spinach

Raspberries

Chickpeas

Grapes

mustard green

Salmon

Peanut Butter

Honey

Beef Liver

Sesame seeds

Prunes

Onions

Chicken

Spinach

raisins

Oranges

Porkchops

Tuna

Hazelnuts

Parsley

cheeses

Pick and choose what you like. There are a lot more available in every section which you can search and find.

Steamed Healthy Raw Fish Preparation (Vitamin-D fortified oil)

Cooking raw fish precisely steaming in very little Vitamin-D fortified oil with magnesium-rich spice like poppy seed paste can be enticing to increase D nutrient in your body. It is a traditional Odisha (a state in India) cooking but has been modified to add gold winner refined sunflower oil (Vitamin-D fortified) from mustard oil. We in India cook small fishes like herring and mackerel with this kind of recipe. They are healthy and taste very good.

Marinate the fish with turmeric powder and salt (1 tablespoon) and keep it for 1 hour outside.

During that time grind the already soaked mustard and poppy seeds with garlic to a thin paste.

Cut onions into thin slices.

Cut the tomatoes to small pieces.

Mix the paste with the fish.

Add sliced onions.

Add cut tomatoes.

Add cumin powder, red chili powder, rest of the salt and turmeric.

Give a though mix to all the ingredients.

Add 2 spoons of oil to a pan and heat it

Add the fish mixture and spread it smoothly.

Mix the content with ~200 mL water to the pan and mix it with the fish paste.

Cover the pan and cook medium heat for 20 minutes checking after every 10 minutes.

After it is done, sprinkle cut coriander leaves on the curry.

Serve your healthy fish for with one feast of cooked brown rice for best taste.

Mushroom Soup

Ingredients

(2 servings)

button mushroom – 200-250g

1/8 cup fresh coriander leaves

onion -1 medium

garlic pods -2-3

1/2 spoon tomato paste

black peppercorns -1tsp

salt as needed

olive oil -1 tbsp

clarified butter -1 tsp

whole Milk -/2 cup

cashew nuts whole-4

almond-4

coconut shredded- 4 tbsp

Preparation

Pick fresh mushrooms. Clean them by wiping off with a paper towel.

Rinse them in cold water and dry them with a paper towel

Cut the onion to small pieces and mushrooms lengthwise.

Then slice the garlic.

Meanwhile, heat a pan over medium heat, add olive oil.

To the hot oil add garlic, fry until browned

Then add onion, sauté till they become translucent. Add tomato paste and stir it well.

Then add mushroom, peppercorns, sauté well until the water oozes out from the mushrooms.

Add salt to the fairly dry mushrooms.

Take ~30 gm out and save it for further garnishing.

Then pour 2 cups of water, get it to boil and shimmer ~10 minutes until the mushrooms are cooked.

Let the curry cool for a few minutes then transfer to the blender.

Blend in batches until smooth.

Add cashews, almonds, and coconut to the blend and grind them all until smooth

Then return to the pan over low heat, add clarified butter, milk, cook until heated through.

Add the slurry from step-13 to the hot milk. Shimmer it 5 minutes. Add water if necessary

Garnish the soup with reserved mushroom and coriander leaves.

The tasty creamy mushroom soup is ready to serve, Serve hot.

Lift-up Vitamin-D Level- Prevent and Cure Serious Symptoms

Plan your meal to include Vitamin-D2/D3 from all sources. You might have to change the grocery list. With food, it is hard to overload your body with Vitamin-D. Thinking food as your medicine will help heal low D-level. In terms of your overall health, the benefit you get is huge. It helps you protect your immune system, bone loss, prevent cancer and several other diseases. There is no substitute for better health.

It takes time to prove every scientific theory but diseases would not wait.

If you care and afford wild caught Salmon 2 times a week along with some recommended vegetables, it will take you a long way. Have Vitamin-D rich breakfast and some nuts and fruits for snack.

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14 Comments

Well it seems fish and mushrooms are the go to to increase the vitamin D intake. Its articles like this that are very important because I believe if its not in front of our faces we tend to ignore or forget the fact that we need to take care of our selves.

Thank you for taking the time to do such great research and for taking the time to educate us. I look forward to reading more of your writings

Interesting. I was always under the impression that Vitamin D, and all forms of it, come from the sun. I never realized that mushrooms were such a great source of D12, so will definitely be adding this yummy food to my diet more. Does this include any mushrooms, or a specific type of mushroom?

Also I see you say that sitting in the sun is not enough as your body also needs zinc, magnesium and vitamin K to absorb properly.

The recipes are great and I think I am going to try the mushroom soup tonight for my family, as the rainy weather we have currently gives me a good excuse to make soup which is my favorite dinner.

Thank you for stopping by and taking your time to read the post. There are Vit-D2 mushrooms specifically available in stores. These mushrooms are exposed to sunlight or other source of UVB producing light.

Sunlight, as you have said is the major source of producing vitamin-D. Current research has established that Magnesium is the key for Vit-D activation and it is vital to have it as supplement and here in this case from foods containing magnesium.

If you are trying mushroom soup, I recommend getting the fresh mushrooms for this purpose. I hope you will enjoy it.

I have been preaching Vitamin D for years, and making my adult children take supplements daily. We are all so Vitamin D deficient, and I love your article because you go into such great detail about the foods that we can eat for the magnesium and Vitamin D and getting enough of all of them. Recipes, too. They look so delicious. I just wanted to pop in here and thank you for putting together this great article about something I really care about. Thanks.

It was a pleasure interacting with you having so much knowledge and awareness about Vitamin-D. Thank you for your time reading the article. I am glad you have found it informative. Yes, without magnesium one can not fully utilize Vitamin-D we eat or get from sun. Lucking we have plenty of magnesium rich foods to use.

Both the pictures of the fish curry and soup are from my own kitchen. I tested my ingredients and the taste of my product before I published. They both are delicious.

Thank you for the very informative post , I have to admit that I didn’t actually realize there were so many food sources that you could get vitamin D from . I knew that milk and dairy was a good source but not aware of the others you mentioned or that Magnesium helps activate Vitamin-D. I have copied your Mushroom soup recipe and plan to make it in the next few days . Just wondering does the recipe double OK ,as I have a family of 4 ?

Thank you for taking the time to go through the article. There are many fishes which have different levels of Vitamin-D. Mushrooms with Vitamin-D are good to help with Vit-D level.

The mushroom soup recipe works for two. It should scale up to cover 4 people. Pick the fresh mushroom with no dirty spots. That is the key. I hope you and family will enjoy a winter evening with this delicious warm creamy soup.

Thanks for sharing this informative and educative post.Generally speaking we all based our concern on foods that gave us energy so we will have enough energy to do our work and we concentrate on protein also and pay less concern to others.You have really educate me on vitamin D . This is what everyone should know.It s said to get vitamin D from the sun can we substitute it instead for vitamin D foods.

Thank you for taking the time to read the post. I agree we care more for protein diet and we should. There were studies about Vitamin-D and protein together. In nutshell we need protein and sufficient Vitamin-D for a healthy body.

Sun exposure seems to be “mandatory” per research. The skeletal health and several cancers can be prevented to a certain degree only with sensible sun exposure which the supplements can not do. This is an important information I found from my research.

Vitamin-D rich foods can definitely lift your level but would not be a substitute of Sunlight.

Thank you taking the time to read the article. You have asked a valid question. I have done quite a bit of research in this field because I had only 4 ng/ mL (severely deficient).

The answer to you question and to everyone who has this question is Vitamin-D and its association to health is an emerging field. Once known for preventing and curing rickets, research has taken it to a level that Vitamin-D is associated with every cell of the body and more than 200 symptoms are related to it.

Thus the Institute of medicine and Vitamin-D council has raised the minimum level of Vitamin-D for the human to ensure a good health. They raise it every couple of years. Three years back it was 20 ng/ mL and now it is 30-50. Some experts even suggest 100 ng/ mL. That tells us we have big margin to get overdosed with Vitamin-D.

That is the reason all of a sudden so many people became deficient. i have a chart in my previous blog about the levels.

As always it is better to check the D-nutrient level during regular physical or may be twice a year and get recommendation from your doctor.

Good news is one can fill up the level with sensible sun exposure, supplements, foods and exercise.

Great articles! I had on idea as to the importance of Vitamin D, After reading about the effects of vitamin D deficiency I think I will be checking your website on a regular basis, Living in the Pacific Northwest there are times when getting enough sun can be a challenge. The information about foods that are a good source of Vitamin D is a great help because I am terrible at taking pills on a regular basis. Do you have any recommendations as to a good Liquid source of Vitamin D?

Thank you for taking time to read the article. I am glad to know that you have realized the importance of Vitamin-D in our body which I was not 2 years back. Many of us are still unaware of it. i would recommend you to read few other articles I have posted. Vitamin-D food along with exercise can help tremendously. There are multiple brands of liquid Vitamin-D available at Amazon. I am on tablets recommended by my doctor and can not really suggest you a particular brand at this time.

Being in pacific Northwest, where I was for brief 4 + years, I got my D-level quite low at that time which of course added to my previous deficiency level. I remember getting sun breaks at times with many days of grey skies. Plan your meals with Vitamin-D to help your health.